The Pedaler

I gather that Diedenbergen have joined to make the Bundesliga a 5-team league. Are there any links to any Bundesliga official web sites, and when are the fixtures normally announced?

Good luck to the Brummies revival

Who appoints and pays for the "independent person" and what's that bit about paying pipers and calling tunes?

They'll need those for their "Fast Track Reserve" team places. Dear oh dear. Bettaware will be making a fortune selling buckets to speedway fans up and down the country whose hearts will be bleeding for Poole now.

Let's hope that in 2015 the BSPA's master plan of developing fast track riders in the EL will mean that "Junior GB" can take part and show the rest of the world how great Britain IS in world speedway.... ...and then I woke up.

Poole's line-up will reflect what a joke British Speedway has become. ha ha, "Young up and coming talent" Benji Compton in an official FIM "Champions League" event. What a laughing stock. Should be well worth watching Matt Ford and Neil Middleditch being put in their place for once. Seriously though, how cast iron is Poole's contract for this event? I can see them withdrawing if there are no serious consequences from them doing so. The BSPA may even be persuaded to fund any compensation.

Following the events of this weekend, I cannot see anything on the BSI / SGP web site about what is being done in respect of Ward's continuation in the series. What is happening? Is Ward going to help the FIM with their enquiries? Will there be a disciplinary hearing or not? Neither is there anything on either the BSPA or Poole's web sites, to say what the UK authorities are going to do about the rider who plies his trade in this country. And if his conduct causes him to suffer disciplinary punishment by the authorities, how will the UK Borders Agency consider his next application for a visa to work in the UK? Isn't there some kind of "fit and proper persons" criteria that he has to pass?

Basically what it boils down to is whether he was using Steroids in order to help with physical side of the fitness regime that riders have...and let's face it, he's not naturally muscular so to handle the bike he needs to build his muscles up...OR was he smoking cannabis or snorting cocaine, or was he using amphetamines in order to "sharpen his mind" (and gating)? All prohibited substances. All questions in need of answers. OR, to use most caught-out athletes excuse, was he just "using the wrong cough medicine"? lol

Does Britain have a drug testing regime like they do in Poland? Be interesting to find out more about this. Can't trust either Google or Bing to make proper translations of subject matter like this, so we don't know if they were testing for "performance enhancing" or "recreational" drugs. If he is found guilty and gets a ban, it will make Falubaz's chances in the play-offs look less certain, ironically against Gorzow, where he was tested for drugs.

1. How do you fit 300 speedway fans onto a jet with a capacity of 189 (or 187 with someone the size of BoJo on board)? Apart from that little tittle tattle, how about now.. 2. Why not now marry up the wind fall of BoJo's "discovery" of speedway with the need to have someone to champion the cause for change in the sport in the UK. The BSPA won't do it from within, but with a "champion of the cause" like BoJo to knock some heads together, working on behalf of the fans of the sport, maybe some change can be made. This is a guy who governs attention. Love him or hate him, you can't ignore him, and with him on side, you have a powerful ally. It would need of course for it to be politically worthwhile to BoJo and it will need the effort of fans all over the country to make a start by writing / tweeting / e-mailing / facebooking their appreciation for BoJo, the promise of a few rounds of drinks, and maybe someone offering him a night out at a local track to him (god help us, Lakeside?) Get the guy on board, sell to him what's left that's good about the sport, get him to champion the cause in changing what's bad. It's an opportunity. Grasp it.

That tells me nothing. Before my time and I don't care. I wasn't asking him, nor do I intend tracking him down, and nor I suspect will anyone else on BSF. That's not a helpful answer to those people contributing from Kings Lynn, Swindon, Glasgow, or anywhere else beyond the Birmingham horizon. Correct - boring, and I don't think I had asked about that anyway. Just a Joe Soap in the stands who's paid his money to see the sport decline.

You talk as though you are the founding father of speedway in Birmingham. I always thought that it was Tony Mole that got the Brummies to the start line in 2007, but you seem to think that it was you that made "something from nothing" to use your words. Why not illuminate the ladies and gentlemen with a potted history of who you are and what you've done to bring speedway back into Birmingham, so that the people on BSF can get to know you a bit better? Then maybe they can understand better, your posts.

Let's congratulate him when we see the colour of the money and it is handed over...until then it is is nothing but forum flannel.

There are a lot of Birmingham supporters prepared to believe in anything that will offer them hope. I hope you are not preying on them. Bear in mind your previous promise, and I quote from you... If you raised £4000 in one day, where is it? It certainly didn't jump-start the fighting fund which grew gradually from zero and took a while to get beyond your first day's efforts. Basically, don't promise what you can't deliver. The fans don't deserve to be taken for a ride in this fashion.

Simple cure

I have no problem with the season ticket holders getting something from the other teams, as they've paid for something that they aren't going to get any more. Similar to how airlines would be expected to bring home passengers left stranded abroad if their carrier went bust...no problem with that at all... HOWEVER this thing about the "weekly payer" simply doesn't make sense. Why should they get hand-outs for meetings that they might not go to and certainly haven't paid for? If Ryanair went bust, do you think EasyJet would come along and say to that if you haven't booked a flight with Ryanair, and haven't bought a ticket yet, they'll give you discounts over and above what EasyJet's regular passengers get? Do you honestly see serious and successful businesses taking that course of action? But then this is speedway, where every angle should be explored to make life free or cheap for the spectators, and then wonder why promoters run out of cash. Yes, even the ones lauded a year ago for being the most pro-active, and "progressive" in the way that money-off bargains were being thrown about courtesy of Groupon, Amazon Local etc etc. Yes, business sense and speedway - great bedfellows.

Some people have been watching too much Channel 4 and think that the Brummies gets its fans from Benefits Street. Personally I think that the Birmingham supporters have enough pride and dignity not to need any offers of charity in this manner. Birmingham supporters are still speedway fans, not refugees. If they go to another track it will be with heads held high not on the lookout for the speedway equivalent of a blanket and a bowl of soup.

Will the receivers/liquidators report be made public once all the assets have been disposed of and money's cleared? As an accountant, will Philips appoint himself as administrator / liquidator of Birmingham Brummies Ltd (I think that's still legal to do so, isn't it?) and (hypothetical question for now) how much of the realised/liquidated assets will be "absorbed" into administrators / liquidators "fees" (which if I'm not mistaken are the FIRST things that get paid) before anything goes towards paying off debts?

Maybe we should apply this logic to other jobs too? Maybe being given a free uniform, free boots, the delight of being able to be out in the fresh air, the joy of talking to people, getting the odd cup of tea from a street vendor and getting the satisfaction of helping old ladies cross the road should be "payment" enough to join the Police Force? And they can also chase, catch and lock up criminals just for the love of law and order.

Probably the opinion of most speedway fans, especially of the "old school". We see complaints here that people are having to pay more for admission than they want to...they print out their own race cards rather than paying for programmes in order to save some more pennies, and then they complain that people actually get paid for their work. Money seems to be the big enemy of the speedway fraternity. Simple answer, give up on professional speedway. Turn it into an entirely amateur sport, staffed by volunteers only, and let only those who want to ride for nothing take part. You'd be happy then wouldn't you?

According to what Philips said on the radio, the Sky money is in the bank account of the BSPA. He may be wrong of course, it could be in the hands of the SCB or of GoSpeed...but that's just a matter of technicalities, and pretty much certainly "none of our business" lol. He may also have been cold bloodedly lying and the money wasn't in anyone's safe keeping at all. HOWEVER, Philips's contention was always that the BSPA had the money, and he wanted an advance on what was coming to Birmingham in the long term. The BSPA refused...and now we are in the situation we are in. It would be an irony indeed if the money that was refused to Philips suddenly became available to someone else. The BSPA are now in a cleft stick situation. If they don't come up with the Sky money, they will see the Brummies go to the grave. If they do come up with the Sky money, then they will prove what Philips said all along, that they were conspiring against him and wanted to be shot of him personally. Either way, they won't look too good out of all this.

There is a supporters club and there is a supporters liaison committee, or something along those lines. Would they not be the right organisations to help you? Have you contacted them?

You're obviously not aware of a former Norwegian rider called Reidar Eide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reidar_Eide And satire certainly isn't your strong point either. As for inside information, check this out - http://www.birminghambrummies.co/news.php?extend.1961

Don't think it will come to that. Have heard that Birmingham will be NL next year, doing a direct swap with Cradley. Pearson & Co will run the Heathens from Perry Barr, as they have a supporter base (even if they don't have a track) capable of sustaining a team in the EL, Alan Philips will have no choice but to sell his EL license at a fire salvage price in order to get some cash back, to make a fist of running in a league that he can afford. Then Pearson will have his full revenge for getting dumped on by the Brummies management last year when he had to "resign" as press officer. Cradley elevated, probably with Hancock as #1, the Brummies humiliated and relegated to the lowest league. Pearson's revenge will be complete and it will be every Heathens fans dream come true.